WHY do people (especially farkers) assume there is some kind of justice or fairness in the world? We have MILLENIA of evidence to the contrary. People are naturally evil. It takes religion and deterrents and death penalties to keep people from doing what they are naturally programmed to do.

THERE IS NO JUSTICE. MJ is a medicinal plant. It can't be regulated so the taxing system would rely on the honor code. Oh yeah, and it naturally keeps people from wanting to do aforementioned evil things. Which would cripple the judicial industrial complex. It's too good to be true legal.

Let's see...our current president and his two predecessors are all documented to have used weed, cocaine, and God knows what else. If the dope is so bad for you, how come you can still become President after being a user? These user were definitely NOT losers!

Generally you extract the active ingredient to minimize the incidence of allergies and eliminate potential side effects from growth conditions and other bits of the plant. So it's entirely feasible for this to be used in creating new pain relievers without actually legalizing smoking the plant raw, as it were.

Sudo_Make_Me_A_Sandwich:Mr. Eugenides: I thought the pro MJ side said these don't exist because of the laws against studying MJ.

The laws require approval from the federal government before performing tests. Do you think this might create a conflict of interest for researchers?

The Federal Government has thrice burnt your money on similar studies.All unanimously, can we say a "consensus"?, agreed.All recommended decriminalization. All counted areas of medical use.These studies support the documentation of marijuana use, safely, by humans for ALL of recorded time.

But your government has spearheaded the worldwide criminalization of this harmless, medical wonder for 80 years because they KNOW what is best for you.

What is worse, not one of the lying sociopaths will take the high ground and fess up.

Jim_Callahan:Generally you extract the active ingredient to minimize the incidence of allergies and eliminate potential side effects from growth conditions and other bits of the plant. So it's entirely feasible for this to be used in creating new pain relievers without actually legalizing smoking the plant raw, as it were.

It doesn't matter if there is the slightest positive use for marijuana. It should be legal because adults should be free to do what they like with their bodies and the social cost of prohibition vastly exceeds the social cost of drug abuse.

Negotiating for your freedom based on the basis of studies like these is futile (and probably counterproductive) because it presupposes that the prohibition could be valid if the studies went the other way.

Much like getting wrapped up in arguments about procreation or societal norms or what the bible says in regard to gay marriage - it's all irrelevant because ultimately it's just nobody else's business and our government is supposed to be founded on the basis of securing the blessings of liberty, not making us all safe from ourselves or keeping the neighbors from making us feel icky.

As does Upjohn and all the big pharm, tobacco, Cotton, timber, private prisons jailers, lawyers, the justice system in general, ATF, don't forget the cartels and other various local/regional growers and dealers near you. Include all the support industry for those mentioned.

Sigh... Pot should be free to grow just for being human. If you can grow dandilions, you can grow high grade pot.This topic is in the top 5 dumbest arguements of human kind IMO

You want to sell it? Pay a tax or whatever. You want to grow it? It should have the same rules as lettuce.

I'd like to have a chat with anyone who thinks they can convince me why I should not be allowed to own any plant on earth I want for private use.I'll wait.

StopLurkListen:I'm pro-legalization but for Gawdsakes we Americans are plenty stupid as it is, we don't need pharmacological help in making us stupider.

Marijuana use affects different people differently. People who have very active minds often use it as a concentration aid because it helps the thoughts to come out one at a time instead of in a big jumble.

DoBeDoBeDo:Wrong tests done. You have to prove that money brought in from legalizing it > money brought in from "warring" against it.

Do that and the right lobbiests will make sure congress approves it.

Science is just a side show to that.

Exactly. The analgesic properties are secondary. People don't use drugs unless they are in some way effective in creating a psychological or physical change. The pharmacological properties of MJ are assumed by most, but are irrelevant to lawmakers compared to the financial argument. If they cared about a cost/benefit analysis in terms of health, then cigarettes would be illegal and maybe alcohol too.

Barbecue Bob:Incontinent_dog_and_monkey_rodeo: The DEA is being paid huge amounts of money to find no medical use. Pfizer, Merck, etc love the drug war, as does Budweiser.

As does Upjohn and all the big pharm, tobacco, Cotton, timber, private prisons jailers, lawyers, the justice system in general, ATF, don't forget the cartels and other various local/regional growers and dealers near you. Include all the support industry for those mentioned.

Sigh... Pot should be free to grow just for being human. If you can grow dandilions, you can grow high grade pot.This topic is in the top 5 dumbest arguements of human kind IMO

You want to sell it? Pay a tax or whatever. You want to grow it? It should have the same rules as lettuce.

I'd like to have a chat with anyone who thinks they can convince me why I should not be allowed to own any plant on earth I want for private use.I'll wait.

If you live next door to me, you can't have one of those exotic tropical flowers that smells like rotting meat for two weeks when it blossoms. Other than that, though, we're cool.

JesseL:It doesn't matter if there is the slightest positive use for marijuana. It should be legal because adults should be free to do what they like with their bodies and the social cost of prohibition vastly exceeds the social cost of drug abuse.

Negotiating for your freedom based on the basis of studies like these is futile (and probably counterproductive) because it presupposes that the prohibition could be valid if the studies went the other way.

Much like getting wrapped up in arguments about procreation or societal norms or what the bible says in regard to gay marriage - it's all irrelevant because ultimately it's just nobody else's business and our government is supposed to be founded on the basis of securing the blessings of liberty, not making us all safe from ourselves or keeping the neighbors from making us feel icky.

Barbecue Bob:Incontinent_dog_and_monkey_rodeo: The DEA is being paid huge amounts of money to find no medical use. Pfizer, Merck, etc love the drug war, as does Budweiser.

As does Upjohn and all the big pharm, tobacco, Cotton, timber, private prisons jailers, lawyers, the justice system in general, ATF, don't forget the cartels and other various local/regional growers and dealers near you. Include all the support industry for those mentioned.

Sigh... Pot should be free to grow just for being human. If you can grow dandilions, you can grow high grade pot.This topic is in the top 5 dumbest arguements of human kind IMO

You want to sell it? Pay a tax or whatever. You want to grow it? It should have the same rules as lettuce.

I'd like to have a chat with anyone who thinks they can convince me why I should not be allowed to own any plant on earth I want for private use.I'll wait.

And oddly enough.. not one of those studies has been proven yet by studies that attempt to reproduce the results! Did you know there are studies that show reduced brain function, schizophrenia, paranoia, heart problems, lung damage (from those inhaling and holding it), suppresses the immune system? How about this, it should be approved for medicinal use when it has been PROVEN by secondary studies and then, due to side effects, only proscribed by a doctor with harsh penalties for misuse (like any other controlled drug).